Flight fire risk from lithium batteries doubles as summer travel peaks
A surge in lithium battery incidents in aircraft hold luggage is forcing airlines to issue urgent summer travel warnings, as fires from defective devices pose a growing threat to flight safety and cause costly operational disruptions.
Aviation authorities are warning passengers to keep lithium-powered devices out of checked luggage this summer after the number of such items discovered in aircraft holds nearly doubled in a year. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) now ranks lithium battery fires as the number one safety risk to flights.
The regulator recorded 643 incidents of these devices being stowed in hold bags in 2025, up from 316 the previous year. Reports of batteries overheating or malfunctioning also rose sharply, from 123 to 206 cases. With the average passenger now travelling with four lithium-powered items, the CAA estimates roughly two battery-related incidents occur each week.
The primary concern for airlines is operational disruption. A fire in the cabin can be managed by crew, but a thermal runaway in the cargo hold can go undetected until it is uncontrollable. Removing luggage to locate a suspect device causes delays, and severe cases force diversions. Last month, an EasyJet flight had to divert to Rome after a power bank was found in a hold bag. In October, an Air China flight made headlines when flames erupted from an overhead bin.
"When these products are packed in your baggage, there is no access to them. So if something goes wrong, they can cause a really devastating fire that can have real dangerous consequences," said Giuseppe Capanna, a product safety engineer at Electrical Safety First. He noted that "substandard versions" bought from third-party sellers are typically to blame for these "ferocious" fires.
Airlines are now pushing for stricter passenger compliance as the volume of personal electronics continues to grow. "Whilst pilots and cabin crew are trained to deal with any situation the best outcome is always prevention, which starts when passengers pack their bags," said Tim Alderslade, Chief Executive of Airlines UK, calling the trend a "growing challenge".
Passengers are limited to two power banks per person and must carry them into the cabin, where they cannot be charged during the flight. Laptops placed in checked baggage must be switched off completely.
